Ireta: An Ethnohistoric and Archaeological Model of P'urépecha Urban Polities

Summary

New archaeological research at the site of Angamuco, Michoacán, Mexico demonstrates unequivocally that the P'urépecha (Tarascans) had cities that before the formation of the Late Postclassic empire. This paper will reexamine the ethnohistoric and ethnographic evidence for the organizational structure of P'urépecha urban polities in light of the new archaeological evidence. The evidence presented here suggests a form of political organization superficially similar to the altepetl model of Nahua (Aztec) urban polities with nested political subdivisions that included both rural and urban areas. The descriptions presented in ethnohistoric documents are similar to archaeological patterns at Angamuco dating to at least the Early Postclassic. This indicates that many of the complex social institutions embedded within urban polities predate the formation of the Late Postclassic empire.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 18880